It was a rough end to the season for Apollo, as the Eagles couldn’t get anything to go their way in a 57-0 loss at McCracken County in the first round of the high school football 6A playoffs.
Apollo managed only 57 yards of offense, while one scoring play alone for the Mustangs was a 63-yard run.
“The kids were flat,” said Apollo head coach Phil Hawkins. “We got jumped on and stayed jumped on. All three phases of the game looked rough. I really can’t tell you why, it’s not what I expected.”
The Mustangs were without their lead running back due to injury, but the replacement duo of Jeremiah Hughes and Carter Roland combined for three touchdowns and more than 200 yards.
Apollo running back Harold Hogg — who had 358 yards on 25 carries in the first meeting between the teams — was limited to 16 yards on 12 carries.
The Mustangs scored a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter and extended their lead to 36-0 by halftime. They added one touchdown in the third period and two more in the fourth.
Hawkins said the performance was a stark contrast to what the Eagles have accomplished in recent weeks. With the season over, he’s going to focus on the positives Apollo showed this season.
“Tonight was no indication of how the season was,” he said. “It’s disappointing tonight, but the future is bright. We’re returning a lot of kids because we’ve only got a few seniors. We’ve been living and dying with juniors and sophomores. We just have to coach them up and get them stronger and come back next year.”
Though it was a sour end to 2019, Hawkins is still confident the program is heading in the right direction.
“I don’t like losing at all, but I like building,” he said. “I feel like we’re building. We’ll be a whole lot more mature next year and we’re going the right direction.”
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2019 football coverage is presented in part by Drew Cunningham, agent at State Farm.
